Relationship between body composition, peripheral muscle strength and functional exercise capacity in patients with severe chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

Objective: To investigate the inter-rater and intra-rater reliability of the Brief Balance Evaluation System Test (Brief-BESTest) in people with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and its correlation between the Brief-BESTest score and lung function, functional exercise capacity, functional lower limb strength, and fear of falling. Design: Prospective, single-group, observational study. Setting: Outpatient pulmonary rehabilitation program. Subjects: People with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease who were attending a pulmonary rehabilitation program. Intervention: Participants performed three Brief-BESTests on two separate days, assessed by two independent physiotherapists. Participants also performed a lung function test, two 6-minute walk tests, the five sit-to-stand test and completed the Fall Efficacy Scale International questionnaire. Results: Thirty participants (mean (SD) age was 72 (7), forced expiratory volume in 1 second % predicted was 47 (16%), and baseline 6-minute walk distance was 427 (90) meters) completed the study. The interclass coefficients of the inter-rater and intra-rater reliability were 0.86 and 0.96, respectively. The Brief-BESTest score was moderately correlated with the 6-minute walk distance ( r = 0.49, P < 0.01) and the five sit-to-stand test time ( r =−0.54, P < 0.01). No adverse events were reported after the completion of 90 tests in this study. Conclusion: The Brief-BESTest was shown to have good inter- and intra-rater reliability for measuring balance in people with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. A moderate correlation was demonstrated between the Brief-BESTest balance score with functional exercise capacity and functional lower limb strength in this population.

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Association between peripheral muscle strength, exercise performance, and physical activity in daily life in patients with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease

Multidisciplinary Respiratory Medicine ◽

10.4081/mrm.2014.372 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 9 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Anne-Kathrin Rausch-Osthoff ◽

Malcolm Kohler ◽

Noriane A. Sievi ◽

Christian F. Clarenbach ◽

Arnoldus J.R. Van Gestel

Keyword(s):

Physical Activity ◽

Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease ◽

Muscle Strength ◽

Pulmonary Disease ◽

Exercise Performance ◽

Daily Life ◽

Handgrip Strength ◽

Chronic Obstructive ◽

Obstructive Pulmonary Disease ◽

Peripheral Muscle

Background: Resistance training of peripheral muscles has been recommended in order to increase muscle strength in patients with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD). However, whether peripheral muscle strength is associated with exercise performance (EP) and physical activity in daily life (PADL) in these patients needs to be investigated. The aim of this study is to evaluate whether strength of the quadriceps muscle (QS) is associated with EP and daily PADL in patients with COPD. Methods: We studied patients with COPD (GOLD A-D) and measured maximal isometric strength of the left QS. PADL was measured for 7 days with a SenseWear-Pro® accelerometer. EP was quantified by the 6-minute walk distance (6MWD), the number of stands in the Sit-to-Stand Test (STST), and the handgrip-strength. Univariate and multivariate analyses were used to examine possible associations between QS, PADL and EP. Results: In 27 patients with COPD with a mean (SD) FEV1 of 37.6 (17.6)% predicted, QS was associated with 6MWD, STST, and handgrip-strength but not with PADL. Multiple linear regression analyses showed that QS was independently associated with the 6MWD (β = 0.42, 95% CI 0.09 to 0.84, p = 0.019), STST (β = 0.50, 95% CI 0.11 to 0.86, p = 0.014) and with handgrip-strength (β = 0.45, 95% CI 0.05 to 0.84, p = 0.038). Conclusions: Peripheral muscle strength may be associated with exercise performance but not with physical activity in daily life. This may be due to the fact that EP tests evaluate patients’ true abilities while PADL accelerometers may not.

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